MANILA (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 4, 2012) – Filipino gay rights activists were angered over homophobic cyberattacks that defaced the Wikipedia page of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona.
The Progressive Organization of Gays in the Philippines (ProGay) said the vandalized page which was hacked briefly on January 3, branded Corona the “Thief Justice” and portrayed him as having gay sex with court administrator Midas Marquez. The page has been restored four hours after the attack.
A passage from the posted attack read: “Rumors are circulating that the Supreme Court Administrator — “Midas Marquez” is having intimate relationship with the Chief Justice,”
“We totally deplore this heinous way of using gay slurs for launching political attacks between the opposing sides in the impeachment trial,” Goya Candelario, ProGay spokesperson, said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the defacement proves that homophobia and discrimination are real social problems of Philippine society that make life for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) very dangerous.
A day before this incident, a heterosexual male youth was stabbed and mauled to death by an armed gang of hoodlums after the youth defended two gay passengers in a minibus from the gang’s taunts.
“We mourn the death of Fernando Mendoza who died defending gay rights and because of unchecked homophobia that is being stoked by religious zealots and machismo. All levels of our society should really address and correct homophobia, because both ordinary men who are not gay like Mendoza and powerful government officials such as Corona and Marquez are not safe from these stupid hate crimes,” Candelario said.
ProGay called on Congress to immediately pass the Antidiscrimination Bill with protections for sexual orientation and gender identity even as the impeachment trial of Justice Corona in the Senate weeks is set to dominate the attention and time of both House of Representatives and the Senate.
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